Track listing
Show track credits
- A1 Camino Royale 5:25
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writer
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- A2 Cell 151 6:25
- A3 Always Somewhere Else 3:58
- A4 Walking Through Walls 3:45
- B1 Give It Away 4:05
- B2 Weightless 3:29
- B3 Group Therapy 5:44
- B4 India Rubber Man 2:29
- B5 Hackett to Pieces 2:37
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writer
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- Total length: 37:57
Rate/Catalog
Catalog
Set listening
Review
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8 Issues
- Release view [combined information for all issues]
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Highly Strung [p]
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Highly Strung 33 rpm
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Highly Strung Bonus Tracks, Remastered
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2007 CD VJCP-68801
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Highly Strung Bonus Tracks, Remastered
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Highly Strung Bonus Tracks, Digital file, Remastered, Streaming
12 Reviews
Hackett's last album for Charisma, and kind of a mess, at least partially due to his deteriorating relations with the label. Decent proggy guitar-driven songs and instrumentals sit side by side with some of the most tepid, forgettable pop material Hackett could muster.
Published
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A1
Camino Royale
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A2
Cell 151
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A3
Always Somewhere Else
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A4
Walking Through Walls
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B1
Give It Away
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B2
Weightless
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B3
Group Therapy
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B4
India Rubber Man
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B5
Hackett to Pieces
Changing with the Times
Highly Strung builds off of the new-wave foundations of Cured and combines it with a synthetic neo-prog approach. The music on here is the closest Steve ever got to sounding "catchy", with Hackett scoring his first and only hit in "Cell 151" which implements the gated reverb drum sound his former bandmates, Gabriel and Collins, had popularized a few years earlier. The album's one major flaw is the strained vocals, which are only a slight improvement to Steve's performances on Cured, but the songwriting at least is very polished.Published
An overall less-than-satisfying hodgepodge of great progressive rock tunes ("Always Somewhere Else", "Group Therapy") and generic 80s AOR trash ("Give It Away"), the latter of which sadly ended up being representative for what Steve ended up doing for most of the next decade.
Published
"Cell 151" is the one standout song, with "Give It Away" and "Walking Through Walls" being listenable. However, if you're expecting the Steve Hackett sound from Genesis or even his first solo album, forget it. He's going for the crossover sound here, falling straight in the middle of '80s AOR, and with predictably dull results.
Published
BFE 38515 Vinyl LP (1982)
More synth-pop, a bit more catchy at times but a bit more irritating at other times. And the instrumentals aren't all that great.
Published
6th album and the last one released on the Charisma label (All the rest of Steve’s extensive catalogue is available on his privately owned label Camino Records, also available on this site). For this album Hackett expanded the duo format, which recorded Cured, into a trio with the addition of drummer Ian Mosley (future Marillion member) and a few guest musicians also participated. Together they created what is considered one of the best Steve Hackett albums, full of great melodies and excellent playing. Back to the Prog format and sound and including some of Hackett’s most memorable tunes like Camino Royale, this is a perfect summary of his early period. Future Hackett albums will slowly mark the transition into acoustic music and his dedication to the acoustic guitar, with only occasional ventures into the classic electric Prog. This is a beautiful album in every sense and a pleasure to revisit after all these years. Definitely a classic and highly recommended!
Published
00946 384418 2 3 CD (2007)
The end of Steve Hackett as a pop author and the beginning of the guitar macho: the fusion instrumental Group Therapy** and the synth-pop ditties of Walking Through Walls* (reminiscent of early 80s Neil Young, with misused vocoder and stuff like that). A technical, sterile album with few nice points and full of boring passages; Cell 151* is the single but sounds like an arty version of Abacab. Everybody likes India Rubber Man*, but I truly don't see the point in this delirious "ballad" which Robert Wyatt could have written on the toilet on a bad day.
Published
A little improvement to "cured" conditioned nightmare. Trying to get in tune with the sound of the 80's. The last traces of progressive rock in a Hackett's recording for a long time. At this time he decided to embark in a commercial venture.
Published
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Catalog
10 Apr 2024
7 Apr 2024
5 Apr 2024
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A1
Camino Royale
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A2
Cell 151
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A3
Always Somewhere Else
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A4
Walking Through Walls
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B1
Give It Away
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B2
Weightless
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B3
Group Therapy
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B4
India Rubber Man
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B5
Hackett to Pieces
21 Mar 2024
17 Mar 2024
15 Mar 2024
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A1
Camino Royale
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A2
Cell 151
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A3
Always Somewhere Else
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A4 Walking Through Walls
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B1 Give It Away
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B2 Weightless
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B3 Group Therapy
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B4 India Rubber Man
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B5 Hackett to Pieces
10 Mar 2024
12 Feb 2024
27 Jan 2024
6 Jan 2024
20 Dec 2023
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A1
Camino Royale
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A2 Cell 151
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A3 Always Somewhere Else
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A4 Walking Through Walls
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B1 Give It Away
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B2 Weightless
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B3
Group Therapy
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B4 India Rubber Man
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B5 Hackett to Pieces
4 Dec 2023
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A1
Camino Royale
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A2
Cell 151
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A3
Always Somewhere Else
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A4
Walking Through Walls
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B1
Give It Away
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B2
Weightless
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B3
Group Therapy
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B4
India Rubber Man
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B5
Hackett to Pieces
26 Nov 2023
4 Aug 2023
19 Jul 2023
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